Rebirth 08: Rise from copycat phones

Chapter 658 A Revolutionary Attack in the African Jungle

The Eighth Research Institute in a small coastal town in Africa.

In a small conference room, several men dressed in camouflage watched an aerial video being played on a large screen on the wall.

The middle-aged man standing to one side of the screen said, "This is a real-time reconnaissance image transmitted by our Black Swallow 3 drone, 150 kilometers away!"

"As shown in the image, the temporary armed camp we found has about fifty to sixty armed personnel stationed there. The camp contains a certain number of heavy weapons, such as simple armored vehicles converted from civilian vehicles, two modified civilian helicopters that can be equipped with heavy machine guns, and we also detected heavy weapons such as rocket launchers and even portable anti-aircraft missiles!"

"Combined with our analysis of the information we gathered about this armed camp over the past few days, we can be fairly certain that this is Wright Defense's secret logistics base!"

"The location and timing of this temporary camp's appearance are too clever. We first discovered them a week ago, and judging from the changes in the temporary container-like buildings within the camp, they have only been here for about half a month!"

"Furthermore, the number of personnel and weapons deployed is unreasonable, especially these modified armored vehicles. Normally, when commissioning a mission, armored vehicles and armed helicopters would not be secretly brought along."

"They must have an important mission!"

"Furthermore, the scientists from the Galactic Life system we were escorting last week were attacked en route to the airport. It wasn't a simple, ordinary attack; the attackers launched their attack at extremely close range and even attempted to get closer... Judging from their operational patterns, their intention was not simply to attack our scientists, but to try and kidnap them!"

"The Wright Defense team secretly set up a temporary camp 150 kilometers away, and then our scientists were attacked. If this is all a coincidence, then there are far too many coincidences in this world!"

"I strongly suspect that the person who attacked our scientists was from a secret Wright Defense camp..."

At this moment, a middle-aged man said, "Wright Defense, huh? Aren't they usually active in North Africa? Why are they coming here?"

"Moreover, this area we're in hasn't changed much recently, and there's nothing of high value that would make them come all this way... except for us!"

"I think the geographical information of our Eighth Research Institute may have been exposed, which is why we've been targeted!"

"Although we don't know what their goal is, that's not important. What's important is that since they dared to show up here, they should bear the consequences!"

Meanwhile, the commander of Galaxy Security, sitting above, frowned. The scientists at the Eighth Research Institute had been attacked, and at the same time, a security company that had never been to this area before had suddenly appeared and set up a temporary camp with dozens of people and heavy weapons. This meant that the Eighth Research Institute had definitely been exposed... There were no high-value targets nearby that would be worth Wright Defense sending an elite team with heavy weapons all the way here!
The location information of a research institute is not important; what is important is why they come here.
The lower-level commanders were unaware of this, but as the security chief responsible for protecting the Eighth Research Institute, he did know some classified information.

The Eighth Research Institute has developed a very powerful drug called ARE78, which is said to be able to restore youth. Although Galactic Life has begun to open up its use to certain specific groups of people, this wonderful thing is still available.

But there will always be people who can't resist wanting to know the secrets of ARE78... Whether it makes money or not is not important. The most important thing is that everyone wants to control this strategic-level resource.

Xu Shenxue could use this to threaten and entice other super-rich people. Well, although Xu Shenxue hasn't done that yet... everyone knows that Xu Shenxue could do it if necessary.

And others could naturally follow suit, snatch the ARE78, and tell the others: If you want to relive your youth, you'd better behave yourself...

Even if things don't go well, having ARE78 in hand can prevent being threatened or bribed by Xu Shenxue... After all, it's a drug that can restore youth, and everyone wants it and no one wants to be cut off from the supply!
Therefore, many people around the world are actually looking for the secret of the ARE78 project!
After pondering for a moment, the middle-aged head of Galaxy Security said, "Continue secret surveillance, collect as much information as possible, and at the same time, the drone team and the assault team should be ready for combat!"

After speaking, he left the conference room and went to the fifth basement level, where he found the African executive committee member dispatched by the Galaxy Life Headquarters to the Eighth Research Institute and informed him of the highly suspicious target.

After listening to the report, the executive committee member, who was over fifty years old, said, "I need to gather more information. I need to know if they are really targeting our Eighth Research Institute, and if they are really targeting our ARE78 project!"

"If the information is leaked, then we may have to relocate!"

The existence and address of the Eighth Research Institute, as well as its research projects, are all highly classified... In fact, many staff members within the Eighth Research Institute do not even know where they work.

They arrived by private jet, but after landing at a remote airport, they were escorted here by Galaxy Security personnel. They are not allowed to leave on weekdays, and are only allowed to leave when they finish their work hours or take a vacation. Even then, they are always escorted by security personnel and leave by small plane or helicopter. They only know that they are in a coastal area of ​​Africa, but they cannot provide the specific address.

The existence of Project ARE78 is a top secret. Apart from the project team, a few high-ranking members of Galactic Life, and a few senior commanders of Galactic Security, very few people actually know that Project ARE78 is located at the Eighth Research Institute!

The world's top super-rich people all know that Galactic Life has developed an anti-aging drug called ARE78... but they don't know how Galactic Life developed it or where it was developed.

When these wealthy individuals use the drugs, they are actually in cities in other countries... Galaxy Life staff collect the clients' genetic data in these places and then transmit it back to Galaxy Life's Eighth Research Institute. The Eighth Research Institute then uses a special big data model and the computing power interface provided by Zhiyun Group to make calculations. After the calculations are completed, the staff of the Eighth Research Institute then prepare targeted drugs based on these results.

After the drugs are prepared, they are transported around the world by Galaxy Life staff and provided to their ultra-wealthy clients.

During this process, it is likely that someone had malicious intentions towards Project ARE78, wanted to steal secrets, and used previous transportation channels to obtain information about the Eighth Research Institute.

But soon, this member of the African Executive Committee of Galactic Life reported to Galactic Life headquarters...

After a meeting, the headquarters of Galactic Life directly ordered the Eighth Research Institute to relocate, especially the core scientists of Project ARE78, to be safely relocated as soon as possible.

As for the current location of the Eighth Research Institute, it can simply be used as an ARE78 drug preparation base from now on... Even if people find out, such a large base can't just be thrown away. Using it as a drug preparation base is fine... There's no need to worry about leaks.

Even if the preparation base were discovered, it wouldn't really matter... To put it bluntly, the preparation base is just a biopharmaceutical preparation laboratory. The staff inside don't need to know the secrets of the ARE78 project; they only need to synthesize drugs based on the transmitted data.

These synthetic drugs are specifically designed for an individual's genes and cannot be used by others.

The core secrets of the ARE78 drug will not be easily revealed.

The Eighth Research Institute was preparing for a relocation, but before they left, Galaxy Security planned to carry out a operation to both strike and threaten potential adversaries, ensuring the safe transfer of the Eighth Research Institute.

Especially the safe transfer of key scientists!

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Through continuous aerial reconnaissance by the Black Swallow 3 drone, Galaxy Security's drone team has thoroughly investigated the sudden appearance of Wright Defense's temporary camp. They have even officially confirmed that the attack was carried out by them a week ago when several scientists from the Eighth Research Institute went to the airport to return home for vacation.

Fortunately, the armed employees of Galaxy Security who were escorting the team were quite capable and managed to thwart the attack, successfully protecting the scientists as they evacuated.

Now that the situation has been clarified, Galaxy Security's crackdown operation has officially begun.

That night, around 9 p.m., the armed employees of the ground assault team, carrying various light and heavy weapons, and riding in armored vehicles and off-road pickup trucks, left the base and advanced along remote roads. They needed to travel more than 100 kilometers under the cover of darkness and appear near Wright Defense's temporary base to prepare for subsequent operations.

Throughout their journey, Black Swallow 3 drones will provide aerial intelligence and early warning throughout the entire process!
The Black Swallow III UAV is currently the main equipment in Galaxy Security's hands. Although this UAV looks small, its range is actually excellent, with a range of more than 600 kilometers.

Furthermore, thanks to its high lift at low speeds, although the speed decreases significantly after switching to the hovering reconnaissance mode, fuel consumption also decreases dramatically, which can greatly extend the driving range.

This range and endurance make it ideal as a medium- to long-range surveillance and reconnaissance drone.

Furthermore, it is a tailless stealth aircraft with outstanding stealth capabilities.

Ordinary radar cannot detect it at all. Galaxy Security often relies on the high stealth performance of the Black Swallow III UAV to fly Black Swallow III UAVs everywhere... especially in a desolate place like Africa, where no force can detect its traces.

The artificial intelligence control system on the Black Swallow III UAV is sufficient for it to autonomously complete a series of tasks and operations. It can even directly guide and command swarm UAVs or other compatible unmanned equipment, such as robotic dogs, to carry out combat operations.

Its strong stealth capabilities, AI guidance, and command capabilities made Galaxy Security very fond of this drone, and they purchased a large number of them from Dongning Technology.

This drone was developed by Dongning Technology specifically for Galaxy Security... Well, it can't be said that it was developed specifically for them. It was just that when they were developing a small, stealthy AI reconnaissance drone, they also created a version for practical testing and data collection.

The purpose is to continuously improve the Swift series drones. The Swift series drones are small, AI-powered stealth drones specially prepared by Dongning Technology for the domestic market, and their performance is actually even more powerful.

With the Black Swallow III drones, Galaxy Security has been able to gain the upper hand in many battles with the enemy... It is even more useful in one-sided attacks or surprise attacks.

Silently flying over the enemy, collecting and providing intelligence, and then guiding the AI ​​swarm of drones to launch an attack... Galaxy Security has mastered this method.

Tonight's attack was a classic example of a surprise attack!

When the ground assault team's convoy set off, a Black Swallow III drone accompanied them overhead, providing intelligence along the way. Meanwhile, at the Wright Defense temporary camp, a Black Swallow III drone hovered thousands of meters in the air, monitoring the area.

At 4 a.m., the Galaxy Security Command Center of the Eighth Research Institute received a message from the ground assault convoy, saying that they had arrived at the designated location and were ready.

At this moment, on the open ground of the Eighth Research Institute, two civilian helicopters, modified and equipped with heavy machine guns on their sides, also took off into the night.

Each of the two helicopters carried a team of drone swarm members, along with dozens of drone swarms.

The two drones flew low to the northwest in the night.

They will fly under cover of darkness to an open area ten kilometers away from the Wright Defense temporary camp...

The helicopter formation's mission is actually very simple: the helicopters transport the drone group there, and then the drone group, upon receiving orders, releases the swarm of drones... and that's it.

The launched swarm of drones will plan their routes, reach their destinations, search for enemies, and launch attacks under the guidance of the Black Swallow 3 drones. This process does not even require the operation of the drone team members. Of course, remote control can be used when necessary.

The helicopter was fast, and they arrived at the designated location in less than an hour. The drone team members began assembling the launch pad for the swarm drones.

These swarm drones are not multi-rotor drones, but rather propeller-launched fixed-wing drones... They require a launcher for catapult launch. However, these catapults are very simple; multiple launchers can be mounted together on a vehicle, or a single launcher can be carried and easily set up on open ground, making them very flexible to operate.

If the AI ​​mode is adopted, there is no need to even set up communication antennas... Just input the target parameters or let the Black Swallow III UAV guide it, and the UAV team members can simply find a place to set up the launch pad and start the launch.

After being launched, these swarms of drones will form their own formation, plan their routes, and head towards their destination.

After the swarm of drones was ready, it was still dark. To get a better observation result, they waited for about half an hour until the sky began to lighten.

After receiving the order, the drone team members immediately launched the swarm of drones, then waved goodbye to the launch pad, boarded the helicopter, and left... After that, there was nothing more for them to do.

After hundreds of drones were launched into the air, the leader drone in the swarm began to use its limited computing power to form its own formation and plan its path.

At the same time, it began receiving guidance information from the Black Swallow III UAV in the sky.

The swarm of drones formed multiple small groups at an altitude of tens of meters above the ground and headed toward a destination ten kilometers away.

During the flight, because there are many drones and they are quite dense, if there are people on the ground along the way, they can hear a buzzing sound... Although this sound is not loud, it would be easily masked by various noises in the city.

But in the fields at dawn, it appeared exceptionally clear, as if a large swarm of bees were flying around nearby.

As the swarm of drones advanced, on the other side, the ground assault team, which was closer to the target, also launched small multi-rotor drones... not even specialized drones, but aerial photography drones from Xiaojiang Technology.

In the field of small multi-rotor drones, Xiaojiang Technology's technology is unparalleled, and some of its drone models also have high-precision, high-magnification cameras, infrared cameras, and automatic tracking functions for moving targets such as vehicles or people...

As a short-range reconnaissance drone for infantry squads and platoons, Xiaojiang Technology's drones are cheap and easy to use.

This is why it primarily manufactures civilian aerial photography drones, industrial or agricultural drones, but also why a large number of national and regional armed forces use Xiaojiang Technology's drones on the battlefield.

Galaxy Security is no exception; it has a large number of drones from Xiaojiang Technology.

While several small multi-rotor drones took off, members of the ground assault team also launched four larger multi-rotor drones, which looked somewhat like agricultural drones, directly from the back of a pickup truck.

However, the belly of this agricultural drone was not equipped with pesticides or fertilizers, but rather with a fixed clamp.

Two drones were hoisting a rather strange six-wheeled vehicle, which had gun barrels on its roof.

The other two were carrying mechanical dogs, which also had gun barrels on their backs.

Four agricultural drones took off and quickly flew away!
So far, no Galaxy Security personnel have come within five kilometers of the target in the entire operation!
Furthermore, if it's just a simple strike mission, no personnel will be needed to go there afterwards.

However, this mission requires the collection of more intelligence, so ground personnel will be sent over later.

But... that will be after the battle is over!
Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

At this time, apart from a few people on guard duty, most of the people at Wright Defense's temporary camp were asleep... Mercenaries need to sleep too!
Moreover, it's not during a mission or combat, but rather in a rear camp, where most people are sleeping quite peacefully.

Even the sentries, who were supposed to be changing shifts late at night, were starting to feel a bit drowsy from the long hours of doing nothing... Their temporary camp was very remote, and usually no one else would come here except their own people.

The campsite is located in a small clearing in a low-lying jungle. It is surrounded by jungle for several kilometers and there are no residents. There is only a narrow dirt road that is barely passable to connect it to the highway.

Under normal circumstances, sentries deployed at the road entrance to the camp, two or three kilometers away, can detect them in advance.

After all, outsiders can only easily enter this temporary camp by taking this dirt road through this intersection.

While some might attempt to cross the jungle directly, it would be extremely difficult, and even if they did manage to cross, they wouldn't be able to carry any heavy weapons, posing little real threat.

Even if they fly over from the air, they are actually prepared. They have a very simple civilian phased array radar. It's not reliable for detecting fighter jets that are too far away, but it can detect ordinary aircraft that are closer.

However, such a small civilian radar would not be able to detect the Black Swallow III stealth drone in the air... Not to mention a small civilian radar, even a dedicated military detection radar would have a hard time detecting such a small stealth drone as the Black Swallow III.

But... they didn't expect that the enemy would actually fly in from the air.

What they didn't expect was that many days earlier, Black Swallow III drones had been circling overhead and continuously monitoring them.

Even the hidden sentry posts at the intersection connecting to the highway had been detected and marked in advance by the Black Swallow III drones... At this moment, a swarm of five drones headed towards the hidden sentry posts at this intersection.

As time passed and the red half of the sun could be seen on the horizon, one of the armed men on guard duty seemed to hear a buzzing sound, somewhat like bees.

This puzzled him; where did the bees come from so early in the morning?

However, before he could ponder this for long, he soon caught a glimpse of several small black dots on the treetops ahead.

This little black dot is also moving incredibly fast.

what is this?
The doubt in his mind lasted only a few seconds before he immediately realized: it was a drone!
Pointing ahead, he shouted to his companions, "Drones... lots of drones!"

Some of his confused companions looked in the direction he pointed and saw a group of drones speeding towards them.

Instantly, his mind cleared, and he shouted, "Quick, fire warning shots!"

As he spoke, he picked up his gun, ready to fire a warning shot. But at that moment, one of the drones in the formation broke away from the formation and rushed toward them at high speed, instantly reaching speeds of over 100 kilometers per hour.

boom!
No need for warning shots; the swarm of drones crashed directly into the sentry post and detonated the explosives they were carrying!
The massive explosion not only brought flames and thick smoke, but also a tremendous sound!

But just a few seconds later, other explosions followed!
The swarm of drones hovering in the sky began to swoop down one after another, heading towards the makeshift tin-roofed houses in the camp, and then causing explosions.

The shockwave and shrapnel from the violent explosion swept across the surrounding area, directly attacking many armed personnel who were still asleep, and killing them forever.

Some of the armed personnel woke up immediately upon hearing the explosion, or had already woken up beforehand. They immediately realized that someone was attacking the camp. Some rushed out with their weapons to fight back, while others simply tried to find cover inside.

At this moment, an experienced armed man ran quickly to the pre-prepared electronic jamming equipment, turned on the jammer, and attempted to interfere with the drones.

However, after turning on the electronic jammer, he was devastated to find that the drones were completely unaffected and continued to swoop down to attack one after another, the whole process as smooth as flowing water, even with a sense of rhythm.

What kind of drone is that?

"Even at such a close distance, they can't interfere!"

He naturally didn't know that the greatest value of these swarm drones, which is also the core technology and value of a series of drones under Dongning Technology, is artificial intelligence... They don't need to be remotely controlled by radio; they can fly and carry out strikes on their own.

Of course, it would be even better if there were Black Swallow III drones in the air to guide it... So soon a drone flew over and exploded on this portable electronic jamming device.

At this moment, several mercenaries escaped and tried to run towards the jungle outside the camp, but before they had taken more than a few steps, a drone flew over their heads and carried out an airburst!
Throughout the camp, explosions continued, and bursts of fire appeared every now and then. The small camp was soon filled with smoke and dust from the explosions.

The smoke and dust rose up, but were quickly dispersed by the wind!

And the explosions continued!
The explosions lasted for three or four minutes in the camp, only subsiding after the last swarm of drones exploded.

At this point, no complete buildings could be seen in the entire camp, and the helicopters and armored vehicles parked in the open space were engulfed in flames.

Of course, even so, a few lucky individuals managed to avoid the killings by taking cover and survived.

But then they saw something even more alarming... Several large multi-rotor drones landed on an open area at the edge of the camp, and wheeled unmanned vehicles or mechanical dogs emerged from their bellies.

The two wheeled unmanned vehicles and the two robotic dogs were activated the moment they landed.

One of the robotic dogs landed and immediately left the drone in the first second, then fired a burst of fire at the wreckage of a tin-roofed house in front of it in the second second.

Equipped with high-definition and infrared cameras, it clearly captured a lucky individual appearing a hundred meters away. Based on the analysis and judgment of the built-in artificial intelligence algorithm, it quickly identified the threat and launched an attack.

At a distance of 100 meters, all three bursts hit their targets!
On the other side, a wheeled unmanned vehicle was also moving rapidly forward and firing in different directions, each shot indicating a potential target.

In the makeshift camp at dawn, after a series of explosions, the sound of intermittent, crisp gunfire could be heard!
About twenty minutes later, numerous vehicles arrived at the camp, which had been completely reduced to ruins. Fully armed ground operations personnel from Galactic Security began carefully searching the wreckage to gather potential intelligence.

Unfortunately, none of the Wright Defense personnel in this camp were able to witness this scene.

Because until all the armed personnel in this camp were cleared out, none of them saw a single Galaxy Security operative; all they could see were drones, unmanned vehicles, and robotic dogs!
These mercenaries didn't actually do anything wrong, it's just... times have changed!
(End of this chapter)